Staff Reports
The Justice Department has delivered an unexpected gift to the Trump administration, declaring that the elaborate layers of removal restrictions on administrative law judges (ALJs) are unconstitutional. With this announcement, it seems the DOJ is finally addressing the elephant in the room: unelected judges wielding excessive power in their ivory towers while the elected President remains hamstrung.
Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris, in a letter to Chuck Grassley, made it clear that the previous protective measures shielding these judges from dismissal simply do not hold water when put up against the sturdy wall of the Constitution. Like typical bureaucrats, these ALJs have enjoyed the luxury of judging federal regulations on everything from banking to immigration without enough oversight, and it was high time someone called foul.
The DOJ’s bold stance opens the floodgates for President Trump to clean house when it comes to these judicial wannabes. After all, if the judges aren’t accountable to anyone, what’s stopping them from making arbitrary decisions that could upend the administration’s efforts? While the Democrats likely see this as an affront to judicial independence, the fact remains that these judges have often acted like mini-dictators in the regulatory arena.
Citing a 2010 Supreme Court decision, Harris emphasized that protecting executive officers with multiple layers of safety from removal fundamentally undermines the authority vested in the President under Article II of the Constitution. The more layers of protection there are, the more the federal bureaucracy can buck the authority of elected officials—something conservatives have long argued against.
With this declaration, the Trump team, alongside allies like Elon Musk, is sending a strong message: federal agencies can no longer run amok without a leash. This decision is a clear reflection of Trump’s ongoing efforts to dismantle the bloated government by restoring a measure of accountability to a system that has made a mockery of democratic principles. If the courts don’t want to play fair, then perhaps it’s time to send in the cleaners and give these judicial squatter judges a proper eviction notice.
Pam Bondi's DOJ Strips Administrative Judges of Legal Shield, Tees Trump Up to Plow Through Them https://t.co/IKdTTmfYct
— BETSY MAGA (@EynoufBetsy) February 24, 2025
As the Supreme Court has demonstrated in recent years, the claim of vast regulatory authority by federal agencies is increasingly seen as flimsy. The ruling that the SEC’s use of in-house ALJs was unconstitutional is a perfect example of the judiciary stepping in to put an end to bureaucratic overreach. The DOJ is simply doubling down on this trend, seeking to re-establish the balance of power and restore the integrity of the executive branch.
This latest move by the DOJ indicates a serious game change in how the Trump administration will interact with the courts and their rules. With the shackles of bureaucratic indecisiveness lifted, the path toward a more accountable government appears wide open. The next question is whether this means a house cleaning of the activist judges is on the horizon. Buckle up; the legal landscape is about to get interesting.
